Volga-Dnepr Opens MRO In UAE #AvMRO

Tue, 2013-04-23 13:39

Volga-Dnepr opened an MRO facility at Sharjah International Airport in the UAE--its first in the Middle East. It can hold up to six narrowbodies or two Boeing 747s or Antonov An-124-100s simultaneously. In the next year, expect it to add maintenance capability for Airbus A330 and Boeing 777.

This is the Russian group's ninth maintenance base. Outside of Russia, the other big one is in Leipzig, Germany.

Volga-Dnepr Gulf, the name of the Sharjah entity, will maintain aircraft and components at the 22,000 sq. meter hangar. It expects 90% of the workload to come from third-party customers.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines established a line maintenance base in the UAE in 1996, and its airline has been flying to the country since 1992.

I spoke with Victor Sherin, managing director of the UAE-based MRO last year, who said told me about Volga-Dnepr's "huge" plans. Here's the interview.